CHAPTER 49: HUNGER

"Core Release. Phase Two: Garden of Daggers," Sora whispered.

As soon as he heard those words, Zarveth’s vision snapped as the battlefield blurred, then vanished.

Smoke and darkness emerged as he suddenly woke up in a cramped alleyway lined with shattered bottles and rusted cans. He staggered, blinking, as three silhouettes loomed before him.

"Well, well, well... what do we have here? A little thief." One of the men sneered before driving his boot straight into Zarveth’s gut.

"Gah!" Zarveth groaned, pain tearing through him.

What is this? Where am I?

He tried lifting himself up but he couldn’t. He looked at his own skinny hands, bony, nothing like the hardened form he knew now. His eyes darted across the filth ridden alley, and recognized the place in an instant.

No... this is....

Another kick slammed against his temple, knocking him sideways as blood filled his mouth.

"You think you can get away with stealing from us?" The thug yelled, laughter echoing as he asserted dominance over the young Zarveth.

Bread. The memory hit him like the strike had. That’s right. I stole bread... because my stomach wouldn’t stop growling.

Zarveth’s chest tightened. This... this is the day. The day I awakened my Drive Core when I was only thirteen.

His eyes widened. Don’t tell me... I’ve been dragged back into my own past?

Aetherpolis. That cursed city where poor children like him were born with nothing but hunger, fists, and the chance to either break or awaken.

Zarveth didn’t steal because he wanted to, nor was it because he enjoyed the thrill of taking something that wasn’t his. He didn’t do it because he desired free food or out of laziness, either. If he had money, he would have paid for it. The truth was simple, he hadn’t eaten for three days nor did he have the money to buy himself one.

After all, his father was nothing more than a drunkard, a man who took out his frustrations with his fists, beating both him and his mother without remorse. His mother, on the other hand, had long since lost her sanity after enduring years of torment. Instead of protecting him, she too lashed out at young Zarveth, blaming him for things beyond his control.

He had tried, truly tried to find honest work. But who would hire a boy with ragged clothes, a thin frame, and a hollow look in his eyes? To most people, he wasn’t worth their time. Each day blurred into the next, filled with nothing but scraps of food he could scavenge, and sometimes not at all.

That night, as he walked past a bakery, the warm and tempting smell of fresh bread drifted into his nose. It was unbearable, like a cruel reminder of everything he had been denied. His stomach growled in protest, twisting in pain, and he could no longer endure it. In a desperate impulse, he reached out, grabbed a loaf, and bolted down the street.

The baker shouted, his angry voice echoing through the night, calling for someone, anyone, to stop the thief. Three thugs drinking nearby heard the call. They weren’t concerned about justice, nor did they care about helping the baker. To them, it was merely an opportunity, an excuse to rough someone up for fun. And who better than a starving boy, one whose legs could barely carry him, stumbling under the weight of his own hunger?

Zarveth ran as fast as his weak legs could carry him, but his escape ended in a narrow alley with a wall at the end.

He froze. Knowing that there’s no way out.

The three thugs walked in slowly, their twisted grins showing that they had already won. Like hunters toying with their prey, they closed in.

Fists and kicks rained down on him. The bread he had stolen rolled across the ground, stomped over again and again until it was nothing but crumbs. They didn’t even care about it anymore, they only cared about beating him.

"S-s-stop. Please, I won’t do it ever again." He muttered weakly but the thugs paid it no mind.

Zarveth’s vision grew hazy. Each strike made the world darker, heavier. Just as his body was about to give up, something inside him burned.

Smoke began to rise from his skin. His hands trembled, glowing red, until lava burst from his palms, spraying out with a roar.

The thugs screamed as the scorching heat lashed at them, their smug grins twisting into cries of pain as they melted into ashes.

Ah... I remember. The first time I felt true power in my hands. Power strong enough to keep me alive. Power that let me eat when I was starving. Power that told the world I wasn’t someone they could drag around whenever they wanted.

Zarveth’s eyes lifted to the night sky, stars glittering above.

"Why... why didn’t I use this power for good?" He whispered, his voice trembling. "Why didn’t I make sure others like me never had to suffer the way I did? Why didn’t I join ZEAL when I had the chance? When did I start walking down this dark, scary path?"

His tears blurred the starlight. The questions only hurt more the longer he thought about them.

But then reality snapped back.

Dozens of glowing red daggers floated around him, Sora’s drive aura spinning like a storm.

Ah... so that’s it. My life is flashing before me.

Zarveth smiled through his tears. End this, before I end you.

The daggers shot forward, sharp and merciless, stabbing into him all at once. His body froze, stopped in place by the crushing power.

In front of him, Sora was already leaping, spinning mid air, her crimson daggers burning red hot.

"Red Bloom Drive!" she yelled.

The finishing strike pierced straight into Zarveth’s chest, sending him down to the ground with a thud.

Sora dropped to one knee, her breath ragged as pain tore through every inch of her body.

Ahh! It hurts! My whole body, I can’t move!

Her vision swayed, her thoughts scattering. Kaela, Minato, are they safe? I... I have to reach them!

She tried to push herself up, forcing her trembling arms to carry her weight. But her body refused.

Darkness closed in, and before she could even call out their names, her body gave way.

Sora collapsed onto the ground, unconscious.

—-----------------

"I’ll have to finish this quickly and bring chaos, just as my master ordered." Luciena whispered coldly.

"Why?" Ren shouted back, his voice desperate. "You don’t have to do this!"

Luciena’s eyes darkened. "It doesn’t matter what I want. I am only a messenger. My master’s will is absolute."

The air twisted. In an instant, countless spikes of blood shot out, tearing toward Ren with deadly force. Luciena’s Core Release pulsed, the blood barrier glowing with terrifying power.

Ren moved fast, dodging to the side, but the ground beneath him betrayed him. The river of blood coiled around his feet, slowing him down.

The sharp spike grazed across his arms and legs, cutting deep as more and more rained down on him.

I need to do something! Ren’s mind raced as he dashed through the crimson storm of blood spikes. I can’t just keep running until she lands a fatal strike.

With a burst of energy, he leapt upward. Sparks crackled under his feet as he formed platforms of lightning in midair, springboarding from one to the next, narrowly slipping past the barrage of blood spikes.

My movements, they’re almost back to normal. But inside this barrier, everything feels heavy, like my rhythm’s being broken.

From below, Luciena’s voice cut through the air.

"Well, it’s clever to move midair with those little tricks of yours. But it won’t matter. My Core Release slows everyone inside it. No matter how fast you are, if I shave away your speed little by little, my attacks will catch you. And when they do, they’ll pierce you clean through."

Ren gritted his teeth, weaving through strike after strike. It was endless, like being trapped in a spiral where he could only dodge, never counter, never breathe.

Still, he clung to a single hope. She doesn’t know. She doesn’t know how fast I can go when I unleash my Core Release.

All he had to do was endure, bait her in, wait for the moment she thought he was cornered.

Ren’s back hit the very edge of the crimson barrier. Dozens of blood spikes shot at him from every direction with their unrelenting speed.

But he smiled and shut his eyes as he drew in one breath.

In the next instant, his katana shone with black lightning. His arms blurred as he unleashed countless swings in the span of a mere second while sparks scattered as every spike was cut down and deflected.

"Thunderveil." Ren whispered.

But Luciena was already moving. She had expected it. Blood gathered into her hand, shaping into a dagger as she dashed forward with killing intent.

"Hemoforge: Thalassic Veins!"

As she moved, vein-like chains of blood burst from her body, wrapping tightly around Ren and binding him in place.

She surged toward him, her speed almost blinding. "This is the end."

The blood dagger arced in a clean, graceful swing........

But then a pillar of violent lightning exploded from Ren’s body, shattering the bindings and throwing Luciena backward.

Before she could recover, chains of lightning snapped out midair, lashing onto her body. Ren didn’t waste a second as he dashed forward with his sword gleaming.

A black lightning mask now covered his face, his Core Release had already been activated just before her dagger reached him.

He swung his katana down for the finishing blow. But from the front, a single blood spike shot out.

"Got you." Luciena smiled

"Tch!"

Ren twisted his body, dodging the strike. With his free hand, he spun, delivering a crackling spinning backfist covered in lightning.

The blow slammed straight into Luciena’s face, sending her flying across the ground as she rolled before skidding to a stop, her dagger flickering out of existence.

Luciena pushed herself back to her feet in an instant. Blood dripped from her mouth and nose, yet she smiled through it all.

"I expected this, but I didn’t think you’d be this fast!" She chuckled, as if Ren’s strength was nothing but entertainment to her.

Ren’s eyes narrowed. "I’m still going faster."

Luciena tilted her head, grinning wider. "Oh, it won’t matter. Trust me."

She raised her hand, her voice calm yet chilling.

"Core Release, Phase Two: Ocean of Blood."

The air shifted. Tiny droplets of blood lifted from the ground river, from her wounds, and from the very barrier itself. Slowly, they began to take form, shaping into fish like creatures, their bodies glistening crimson.

And then they moved. Not drifting. Not floating. But swimming, swarming like schools of tuna in the deep sea, gliding through the barrier with deadly intent.

Ren’s eyes widened as one brushed against his arm.

"Aghh!"

The pain was instant, tearing into him like punishment. His flesh was ripped away as if bitten clean off. Ren stumbled, clutching his arm in anguish.

Luciena’s smile never faded. She watched him struggle, her voice low and cruel.

"I suppose I don’t need to explain what happens when those little fish touch you."